Getting healthy through kapahaka, thanks to Medibank grant

Getting healthy through kapahaka, thanks to Medibank grant

13 November 2014

Adults in South Auckland and North Waikato are improving their health through kapahaka, thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Medibank Community Fund.

Ngāti Tamaoho Trust has used the grant to set up a number of weekly sessions for members of its hapu who live between Mercer and Papakura.

The groups get together to exercise through kapahaka and enjoy a healthy meal together afterwards. They’re also given the recipe for the meal so they can make it at home.

“We’re very grateful for the grant,” says Hero Potini, who coordinates the Te Awamarahi Marae group. “The sessions wouldn’t have got off the ground otherwise.

“The main objective is for people to get the idea that regular physical activity is fun and doesn’t have to be a burden. We want them to get into the habit of it, and sharing a healthy meal afterwards helps people connect with each other.”

Mr Potini says each group is developing slightly differently to meet the needs of those who attend, so the grant is being used in different ways.

“Some travel huge distances every week to attend, so get help with travel costs, some want to provide the food themselves while others prefer to pay someone to provide it, and so on. ”

He says a sense of competition is developing between the groups, who are also planning to get together in the near future.

The 2014 Medibank Community Fund Community grants have provided $100,100 of funding for New Zealand projects that promote healthy living and community connectedness.

Grants have been provided to an Auckland-based food rescue operation that collects and redistributes fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste, a Wellington-based organisation that aims to improve the lives of mental health consumers and the homeless, a Christchurch primary school’s leadership programme and for the development of a mobile app for Hello Sunday Morning, which seeks to change people’s relationship with alcohol.

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